


Don’t Like Girls

by asexualjuliet



Series: Note to Self: Don’t be Gay in Indiana [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e03 The Case of the Missing Lifeguard, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Instead just goes home and cries, Joyce Byers is a Damn Good Mother, Will doesn’t destroy Castle Byers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 14:56:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20584385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet
Summary: Instead of destroying Castle Byers, Will goes home and talks to his mom.Or, the Will Byers coming out scene we all deserve.





	Don’t Like Girls

**Author's Note:**

> I had such a need to see Will crying to someone about the “not my fault you don’t like girls” scene, so I wrote this. Hope you enjoy!

_ A rainy night in July. Hawkins, Indiana. _

Joyce is curled up by the television. Jonathan is with Nancy, and Will’s hanging out with his friends, so she’s got the house to herself. 

The rain is nice. Joyce has always liked rain, the way it sounds and smells and feels. She could listen to the rain all night. 

But then there’s a knock on the door. 

Joyce groans and gets up, unlocks the door and opens it to see...

Will. 

Will, who’s soaked to the bone and might even be crying, the rain is coming down so hard that Joyce can’t tell. 

“Honey, what happened? You’re supposed to be at Mike’s, aren’t you?”

And then Will bursts into tears. 

“Oh, honey,” Joyce mumbles, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and wrapping it around her son. He’s crying so hard he can barely breathe, and Joyce is worried sick. 

Will doesn’t cry like this. He’ll let a few tears spill here and there, but he never cries like this, never hopelessly wails like he’s doing right now. 

“Baby, what’s going on?” Joyce asks, attempting to dry his hair and face with the towel as he continues to cry. 

“I got into a fight with Mike,” Will manages before he starts to cry again. 

That’s not it. 

That _ can’t _ be it, because Will has been kidnapped and tortured and possessed and plagued with nightmares, but he has never in his life cried like _ this_. 

“What happened, sweetie?” She asks again, maneuvering her son to the couch and sitting him down. 

He gulps. “I told Mike that—that he was ruining our party just because he wanted to make out with El,” Will says, attempting to wipe the tears from his face. 

Joyce winces, rubbing Will’s back and waiting for him to go on. 

“And he said—” Will gulps. “He said—He said that it’s not his fault that I don’t like girls!” He cries, and more tears fall down his face. 

“Oh, honey,” Joyce starts, but Will goes on. 

“But he said it like it was my fault, Mom, and it’s not! It’s not my fault that I don’t like girls because I wish so, so much that I did—” he’s cut off by a sob, “—But I don’t, Mom, I don’t like girls, because I like _ boys_!”

Joyce can’t pretend she’s surprised, but her heart hurts as she watches her baby sob, and she continues to rub his back as he keeps crying. 

“I like boys, I like boys, I like boys, because I’m a freak and a homo and a queer and a—”

“Will,” Joyce says softly, and Will looks up at her with his puffy red eyes and his tear-stained face and dissolves into tears again. 

“Oh, Will,” she says gently, pulling him into a hug, “Baby, I love you so much and I’m so sorry you’re hurting like this.”

Will chokes out another sob into Joyce’s sweater. 

“Baby, I love you, and I love you no matter what, okay? So I don’t _ care _ if you’re gay, okay? I don’t _ care _ if you like boys, because I love you and your brother more than I love anything in the world, okay?”

Will gives a little giggle, eyes still wet, and Joyce continues.

“And sweetheart, I’m so glad you told me this, okay? I _ know _ this was hard for you, and I _ know _ you’re scared and you feel so, so alone, but I’m here, okay?”

Will nods, curling up in his mother’s lap. 

“Thank you,” he whispers hoarsely, wiping tears off his face. 

“I love you,” she whispers back. 

“I love you too,” smiles Will, and Joyce hugs him tight.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!
> 
> All mistakes are my own, please don’t hesitate to point them out!
> 
> Kudos/Comments are much appreciated!!


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